TTh e HHiigghhwwaayymmaann & O th er SSoonnggss ffrroomm t thhe SShhaaddoowwss

Music by Helen Porter Conducted by Paul Searle-Barnes Shadow animation by Joe Gladwin

PROGRAMME The highwayman & oTher SongS from The ShadowS

music by helen Porter for eight voices with string quintet, tuned & untuned percussion, and piano

PerformanCeS

Thur 5 Oct 2006 (Premiere) Salisbury Arts Centre Fri 6 Oct Olivier Theatre, Bedales School, Petersfield Sat 7 Oct Centenary Hall, Port Regis, Shaftesbury Wed 11 Oct Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre, Taunton Fri 13 Oct Arc Theatre Trowbridge Mon 30 Oct Poole Lighthouse Thur 9 Nov Digby Hall, Sherborne Counterparts music Theatre arts The highwayman & oTher SongS from The ShadowS

Music: Helen Porter Conductor: Paul Searle-Barnes Artistic Director: Helen Porter Shadow Animation: Joe Gladwin Harriet Fraser, soprano Jessica Sherman, soprano Kathy Taylor-Jones, mezzo-soprano Philippa Forrest, alto Andrew Morton, tenor Robert Gildon, baritone Jeremy Birchall, bass Charles Hetherington, bass (Oct 13th) Peter Baldwin, narrator violin I: Russell Dawson violin II: Lucy-Anne Allen viola: Aidan Fisher violoncello: David Norton double bass: Valdon Mizen percussion: Mark Whitlam piano: Paul Searle-Barnes Assistant shadow animation: Sarah Stretton Lighting design: Ricky da Fonseca Light: Darren Jones Production: Catherine Sandbrook, Peter Ursem Cover image: Heather Mitchell

We gratefully acknowledge The Society of Authors as the Literary Representative of the Estate of Alfred Noyes. ‘The Highwayman & other Songs from the Shadows’ is made possible with generous support from Programme

Songs from the Shadows Dedicated to the memory of Nigel Carver

The Mistletoe Bough - Thomas Haynes Bayly Harriet Fraser, Andy Morton, Jeremy Birchall and ensemble The Enchanted Shirt - Colonel John Hay Andy Morton, Robert Gildon and ensemble Bishop Hatto and the Rats - Robert Southey Peter Baldwin A Trampwoman's Tragedy - Thomas Hardy Kathy Taylor-Jones, Andy Morton, Philippa Forrest, Jeremy Birchall The Spider and the Fly - Mary Howitt Jessica Sherman, Robert Gildon Price of a Drink? - Josephine Pollard Ensemble

Interval

The Highwayman - Alfred Noyes Ensemble

The first half of the programme will be approximately 45 minutes. The second half of the programme, after the interval, is approximately 35 minutes. ‘Though hell should bar the way.....’

The boundless passion of Alfred Noyes’ Highwayman still sparks the imagina- tion - he will get to his love Bess whatever, ‘though hell should bar the way’. A less romantic but equally strong determination brought tonight’s Counterparts’ production ‘The Highwayman & other Songs from the Shadows’ into being. The idea for this staged concert was found easily in the creative alliance of Helen Porter and Joe Gladwin. Turning it into live music and shadow animation was however a journey of years and only through the creative conviction of Helen and Joe and the determined efforts of the Counterparts team and support of many friends throughout the last three years has it been possible to bring this musical event to you tonight. Before the music starts you should know that Helen Porter is not one for sweet tales, and - as if the story of The Highwayman and Bess isn’t dramatic enough - she included in this concert new settings of six moral tales. Helen says: "These ballads were selected from reading literally hundreds during chilly winter evenings. I chose to set them for various combinations of singers in order to achieve a variety of vocal colour and expression, combined with the versatility and intensity of a string quintet, piano and percussion. With this combination I have tried to capture the tenderest moments of the stories through to the most brutal, and reveal the landscape and the passing of time through music. It’s my wish that this, in The Highwayman heightened further still with the use of shadow animation, will create an atmosphere which will have the audience sitting on the edge of their seats!" On behalf of Counterpars MTA I wish you a very enjoyable evening. Peter Ursem Director Counterparts MTA

4 about the poets

The lives of the poets ot the ballads in cemetery in Freshwater, Isle of Wight and this concert are as rich and varied as the his descendents still live on the island. themes within the works themselves, and take us from boating in Oxford to the Thomas haynes Bayly (1797 – 1839) American civil war, from scholars to Bayly was educated at Winchester and St hymn-writers, and from urban New York Mary Hall, Oxford. He produced songs, to rural Dorset. The local connections are ballads and dramatic pieces including ‘She there not only with Hardy (whose wore a Wreath of Roses’, and the success- Casterbridge is Dorchester); but also with ful farce ‘Perfection’. Alfred Noyes. He wrote ‘The Highwayman’ The source for his tragic ballad ‘The while he was staying in the Bagshot area Mistletoe Bough’ is thought to be the (there’s a story about a highwayman account in ‘Italy’, a verse tale by Samuel roaming Bagshot Heath) and he settled on Rogers (1763-1855), of Ginevra, daughter the Isle of Wight and is buried there. of indulgent father Orsini, who on the day Another local connection, albeit more ten- of her wedding to Francesco Dorio, hid in uous, is with the tragic bride of ‘The a richly carved Venetian chest, a family Mistletoe Bough’, whose ghost is said to heirloom. The chest was removed by haunt a Hampshire stately home. strangers fifty years later and the skeleton discovered. alfred noyes (1880 – 1958) However, the ghost story is also associat- Alfred Noyes was born in Wolverhampton. ed with several mansions and stately His father taught him Greek and Latin. In homes in England, in particular in 1898 he went to Exeter College, Oxford Hampshire, including Marwell Old Hall, where he excelled at rowing but failed to near Winchester, and Bramshill near take his degree. His first volume of Hartley Wintney, said to be haunted by poems, ‘The Loom Years’, was published the ghost of the bride, waiting to be in 1902. In the ensuing years he pub- released. lished five other books of poetry. Among the best known poems of this time were Colonel John hay (1838 – 1905) ‘The Highwayman’; ‘The Barrel-organ’; John Milton Hay was an American states- and ‘Drake’, a two hundred page epic man, author, journalist and private secre- poem about life at sea. Today, ‘The tary to Abraham Lincoln. He served as US Highwayman’ remains one of Noyes’ most Secretary of State from 1898 to 1905 popular and best-loved works. under presidents McKinley and Roosevelt. In 1907 Noyes married Garnett Daniels. He was born in Indiana, raised in Illinois They had three children. From 1914 to and educated at Brown University after 1923, Noyes taught English Literature at which he studied for the bar. He served Princeton University, although returning to and became a colonel in the Civil War. Britain for military service in 1916. In Later he was positioned abroad in Paris 1918 he was made a CBE. His wife died in and Vienna and became US Ambassador 1926 and this led to his conversion to to the UK in 1897. Roman Catholicism in 1927. Noyes later remarried and from 1929 made the family He published ‘Abraham Lincoln, a History’ home at St Lawrence on the Isle of Wight. in 1890 with co-author John G. Nicolay. He spent much of World War II in the From the age of 22 Hay was friend, confi- United States and Canada, returning to dant and companion to Lincoln and por- Britain in 1949. By now he was suffering tions of his diaries and letters show increasing blindness, and all his subse- Lincoln in an affectionate and intimate quent works were dictated. light. In 1890, ‘Pike County Ballads and Noyes published around sixty books in all, Other Poems’ was published and included including poetry volumes, novels, short ‘The Enchanted Shirt’. In 1904, Hay was stories, biographies of William Morris and one of the first seven chosen for member- Voltaire, an autobiography ‘Two Worlds for ship in the American Academy of Arts and Memory’, and theological works. His later Letters. writings, amongst them the epic work ‘The Torch-bearers’, explore the links robert Southey (1774 – 1843) between science and religion and turn Robert Southey, poet and literary scholar, increasingly to the themes of Catholicism was the son of a Bristol linen-draper. After and religion. being expelled from Westminster for writ- Noyes is buried in the Roman Catholic ing an essay against flogging, he went to

5 Balliol College, Oxford, later saying that in the North American Review in 1903. all he learnt there was ‘a little swimmingZ The ‘true case’ is based on the story of and a little boating’. Mary Ann Taylor, who had already been Southey was a poet of the Romantic dead some 50 years when Hardy wrote school with contemporaries and friends this poem. Wordsworth and Coleridge. He published his first collection of poems in 1794. He mary howitt (1799 -1888) married Edith Fricker, whose sister was to Mary Howitt was born in Coleford, the become Coleridge’s wife, and they set up daughter of Samuel Botham, a land-sur- house in the Lake District. In 1813 he was veyor. She was brought up as a strict appointed Poet Laureate. Quaker, and in 1809 she and her sister Southey wrote an immense amount of were sent to a Quaker school in Croydon. both poetry and prose including biogra- At the age of 22 she married William phies, histories, ecclesiastical writings, Howitt, a reluctant chemist who shared and political and moral essays. He was an her interest in natural history and litera- excellent letter-writer. ture, and who was co-writer on much of His poems have enduring popularity. her published poetry. After their marriage ‘Bishop Hatto and the Rats’ (also known they lived in Nottingham. Their social cir- as ‘God’s Judgement on a Wicked Bishop’) cle grew and they travelled widely, meet- was first published in the Morning Post in ing and mixing with many other writers 1799. It comes from a 10th century leg- including Dickens, Mrs Gaskell, Tennyson, end relating that Hatto, archbishop of Wordsworth and Elizabeth Barrett Mainz (891-913), at a time of famine Browning. In 1840 they went to live in assembled a group of poor people in a Heidelberg where Mary undertook some barn and burnt them to death, so that translation work. She was the first English there might be more food for the rich. He translator of Hans Christian Anderson. was pursued by an army of mice, took The family moved between London and refuge in a tower on the Rhine still continental Europe several times. In 1869 known as the M¯userturm, and was there they were living in Rome, writing for a devoured by them. The historical Bishop range of publications. In 1879 William Hatto was not guilty of this atrocity. died. In 1882 Mary converted to Roman Catholicism at the tender age of 83. Thomas hardy (1840 – 1928) Apart from her poetry Mary also wrote a Thomas Hardy is now regarded through- number of works for children. ‘The Spider out the world as one of the greatest of and the Fly’ was written in 1821. English writers. Among his fourteen published novels have been such success- Josephine Pollard (c 1840 - ?) es as ‘Far from the Madding Crowd’, ‘The Josephine Pollard was born in New York Return of the Native’, ‘The Mayor of City in about 1840 and was educated Casterbridge’, ‘The Woodlanders’ and ‘Tess there. She devoted herself to literature of the d’Urbervilles’. Seven volumes of his from an early age, and acquired a reputa- lyrics were published between 1898 and tion as a hymn-writer, her best-known 1928, then brought together in his production being ‘Outside the Gate’. Her ‘Complete Poems’, which has been contin- prose writings include sketches that were uously in print ever since. Among its 948 published in Harper's Magazine and other poems are a number that have been periodicals. She wrote ‘The Gipsy Books’ anthologized many times. The reasons (1873-4) and ‘A Piece of Silver’ (1876). for this lasting appeal are many – a She contributed the text to ‘Decorative tremendous honesty to his own deep and Sisters’ (1881); ‘Elfin Land’ (1882) ; sensitive experience of life, immense ‘Boston Teaparty’ (1882) ; ‘Songs of Bird scholarship, astonishing powers of obser- Life’ (1885) ; ‘Vagrant Verses’ (1886); vation and wide-ranging technical skills and, with John H. Vincent, ‘The Home being just some of them. But above all Book’(1887). there is his compassion and ability to empathise with suffering human-kind - man’s struggle against the indifferent force that rules the world and inflicts on him the ironies and disappointments of life and love. ‘A Trampwoman’s Tragedy’ was written in 1902. Despite initial rejection by the Cornhill Magazine as unsuitable for a fam- ily periodical, it was eventually published

6 helen Porter has performed all over the UK, in France, Born in Dorset, Helen Germany, Spain, Poland, Finland and Porter studied music Canada, appearing frequently on televi- and drama at Bristol sion and radio in this country and abroad. University, and on He has played as soloist with the graduating in 1985 Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and co-founded the SW Sinfonietta, the English Chamber touring Public Parts Orchestra and with the London Symphony Theatre Company. Orchestra in the Barbican, London. While She composed music at Cambridge he studied conducting with for seven produc- Sir Adrian Boult and then, at the RCM, tions, mainly for a with Norman del Mar and Richard Austin capella voices. She in the Opera School. Since then he has also worked as a freelance musical direc- conducted the Bournemouth Gilbert and tor and composer for a variety of estab- Sullivan Society, the Dorset Guild of lished company’s and theatres across the Singers, the Milton Abbey Festival, the UK. Working on small scale productions Dorset County Orchestra, Blandford with Public Parts, however, with an Festival Chorus and various other chorus- emphasis on improvisation and imagina- es including the Bryanston Choral Society. tive, collaborative work shaped her ideas His stage conducting includes performanc- about music in theatre, and fostered a es of West Side Story, Kiss Me Kate, deep passion for the singing voice. Fiddler on the Roof, The Magic Flute, The In 1992 she moved to the Netherlands, Yeomen of the Guard and the world pre- and co-founded with her husband, the miere of Don’t Live There Anymore. Since artist Peter Ursem, Counterparts Theatre 2003 he has been Director of Music at Company. Her first production with the Bryanston. company, Moll Flanders, won the ‘Public’s Choice’ prize at the NCA theatre festival, Joe gladwin has and subsequently toured the Netherlands. been a puppeteer Helen also worked as assistant director since 1973 when he with the Netherlands Opera. trained with seminal On returning to England in 1998 she took puppeteer, Barry up a three year post with Common Smith. He lived and Ground as music animateur on the worked for many Confluence project, and was responsible years in Australia, for forming a number of singing groups. where he built a rep- She also facilitated, together with writer utation as a solo pup- Paul Hyland, the much loved choral work peteer and puppet ‘Otter – lutra lutra on the Stour,’ and theatre director. He founded the Stourhead ‘Festival of the also designed pup- Voice’. Recently she has worked on a vari- pets for theatre companies, and in partic- ety of commissions and produced a num- ular enjoyed several seasons with the cre- ber of larger-scale works including Silk ative teams at Sydney Dance Company (Whitchurch Silk Mill) ‘The White Book of and The Marionette Theatre of Australia. Winter’ for double chorus and soprano, He toured extensively in South East Asia and ‘Back In Time For School’, a commis- and Australia as well as performing in fes- sion from Bedales junior School. She is tivals in Jerusalem, Hong Kong and Japan. the vocalist with the jazz cabaret quartet Joe was the recipient of two Australia Misbehavin’. Council awards. Joe returned to London in 1990 and has since divided his time Paul Searle-Barnes between teaching, directing and creating is well-known in his own productions. Joe has collaborated Dorset and beyond as with Helen Porter on theatre projects both a pianist. He studied here and abroad since 1989, including at Selwyn College, most recently his version of ‘Bluebeard’ Cambridge and at the performed with great success at festivals Royal College of this year in Germany and France, and The Music, London. In Hound of The Baskervilles, performed at 1975 he won the Salisbury International Arts Festival and National Piano Chard Festival of Women in Music. Joe Concerto Competition runs his own company ‘Paperplays Puppet and various other Theatre’ which is now based in Wiltshire. prizes followed. He

7 harriet fraser per- Kathy Taylor-Jones’ forms a wide breadth operatic roles include of repertoire, from Carmen, Marchellina Baroque to (The Marriage of Contemporary, in Figaro), Berta (The concert and on the Barber of Seville), stage. Harriet sang The Mother (The in the first perform- Consul), Mrs Noye ance of Handel’s (Noye’s Fludde), Messiah in English in Peep-bo and Pitti- China, at the Sing (The Mikado). Forbidden City With D’Oyly Carte, Concert Hall in she appeared in Beijing. Her many solo appearances Iolanthe, Yeoman of the Guard and HMS include two World Premieres of song Pinafore at The Savoy Theatre in London. cycles at the Cheltenham International At Buxton Opera House she has appeared Music Festival with pianist William Hancox, as Leila (Iolanthe), Inez/Vittoria (The some of which they also performed on Gondoliers), Kate (The Pirates of BBC Radio 4’s ‘Front Row’, as well as con- Penzance) and in the ensembles of certs at the Bridgewater Hall in Ruddigore and The Sorceror. She has also Manchester and the Huddersfield toured the USA with the Carl Rosa Opera Contemporary Music Festival. Company covering/appearing as Pitti-Sing Harriet’s concerts have included perform- in The Mikado. Kathy has narrated A ances of Haydn’s Missa Cellensis, Fauré’s Soldier’s Tale for Hand Made Opera, and Requiem and Carissimi’s Jephtha at St Faade for both Hand Made Opera and John’s Smith Square, Purcell’s Dido and The Opera Project. She has directed La Aeneas and oratorios at Exeter, Norwich, Boheme also for Hand Made Opera. Kathy Guildford and Hereford Cathedrals. has a special interest in working on new Harriet has also performed with the City music with living composers! - and in of London Sinfonia and at the Three addition to Helen Porter’s The Choirs Festival. Harriet’s South Bank Highwayman, other recent 21st century debut at the Purcell Room last year met projects have included creating the role of with great critical acclaim, and included Felicia/President’s Wife in the premiere of two song cycles by renowned composers To the Edge, for the Forum London Richard Blackford and Roxanna Panufnik Composers’ Group; and working with written especially for what the press Shropshire composer Richard Moult, described as her "ravishing, resonant whose music she has performed regularly, voice". most recently in Paris, and recorded onto CD. Kathy is also a singing tutor at GSA Jessica Sherman Conservatoire. holds a BA Hons in Acting from Central Philippa forrest School of Speech and moved from West Drama, and a BMus Wales to Dorset in Hons from the 1999. She trained University of Western and sang as a soloist Ontario. Roles in whilst there, perform- Britain include Millie ing Oratorio, light in The Hot L opera and Lieder as Baltimore, Colombe well as involving her- in The Speculator and self in the challenges Marie-Ange in the of the Eisteddfod at musical version of local and national Les Belles Soeurs. Canadian roles include levels, combining this the Sandman in Glçck’s Hansel and with being a member of a forty strong, Gretel, Rosie Alvarez in Bye Bye Birdie, mixed choir. Since moving to Dorset she Anita in West Side Story and Mrs. wasted no time in getting involved in the Johnstone in Blood Brothers. She is music scene by joining The Farrant thrilled to have the opportunity to sing in Singers of Salisbury under direction of this exciting new project. Colin Howard. She currently performs as a soloist for music societies in Somerset, Wiltshire and Dorset and enjoys the opportunity of singing English Song of the

8 last century in recital. In 2002 she took Robert recently made his London part as a soloist in two community based Symphony Orchestra and Barbican debut contemporary musical works under the performing the baritone solos in Dave direction of Helen Porter, ‘Otter’ and Brubeck’s La Fiesta de la Posada, a piece ‘Music for the river Stour’. he also performed with the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz at the andrew morton’s Philharmonie in Munich and in recent operatic Ludwigshafen. Upcoming engagements appearances include include a recital of Faure, Kosma and Joe in Graham Jonathan Harvey with Jeff Cohen and Treacher’s Darwin’s Benny Sluching and Haydn’s Seven Last Dream at the Royal Words with the Maggini Quartet. Albert Hall, Professor Robert attended the Centre International Winklebeam in de la Mélodie Franaise in Tours (2004) Pinocchio for the working with Franois le Roex, Jeff Cohen Royal Opera House, and Noel Lee and recently worked with Fenton in Falstaff for Andreas Scholl at the Britten Pears School Capriol Films, Balakin in Aldeburgh. In April 2005 Robert was a in The Enchantress prize winner in the ‘Concours de Musique for Grange Park Opera and Paris in La de chambre Musiciens entre Guerre et Belle Hélene, Nanki Poo in The Mikado Paix’ in Paris. and Ralph in Pinafore for Opera della Luna at Buxton Opera House. He also Jeremy Birchall was played Remendado in Carmen for Garden a choirboy at Oxford, Opera in Kenya and Nemorino in L‘Elisir won a music scholar- for Pegasus Opera. In contemporary opera ship to Radley he appeared in BAC’s notorious gay College and subse- thriller Black and Blue, in Maxwell Davies' quently studied Music classic Eight Songs for a Mad King at the at Durham University. Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow and most After a period work- recently for Opera Circus in their on-going ing for BBC Radio, he Bosnian collaboration with Nigel Osborne, left to study singing which opens in Sarajevo in 2007. He has with Lyndon

sung as a soloist with a number of leading Vanderpump. He has photo: Gerald Place contemporary ensembles including the sung with groups Hebrides Ensemble, Paragon Ensemble specialising both in early and in contem- and the Fibonacci Sequence and at porary music, including the Grange Park and Longborough Festivals. Taverner Consort, Deller Consort, English Concert, Singcircle, London robert gildon stud- Sinfonietta Voices and Groupe Vocal de ied at the Manhattan France; he has recently recorded The Play School of Music of Daniel with Andrew Lawrence-King’s (MSM) in New York Harp Consort. Recent concerts include for three years. He Haydn’s The Creation at the Greenwich attended the Aspen Festival, Haydn’s Heiligmesse in üçrich Music Festival (2000) and Berne, and Ligeti’s Requiem in singing the lead role London, Paris and Berlin. He made his in John Casken’s Proms debut in 1985 in Janäcek’s Rikadla. Golem conducted by In recent years he has given concert per- Diego Masson and formances with Sir Andrew Davis and the performed the role of BBC Symphony Orchestra, singing a role Amantio in Gianni in Strauss’s Daphne and performing the Schicchi under Julius breathing part in Tippett’s Fourth Rudel. He was a student at the Symphony at the Proms. In 2002 he per- Tanglewood Music Center in 1996 and formed Unsuk Chin’s Kal… with Johannes returned as a Fellow in 1999, performing Kalitzke and the BBC Symphony Orchestra in Gianni Schicchi under Robert Spano. At and Chorus. His unusually low voice has MSM he participated in Argento’s been used in concert and on record in Postcards from Morocco, Purcell’s Dido many works by Sir John Tavener: in 1994 and Aeneas, Handel’s Lotario. Robert he recorded and produced a tape for made his professional debut with Opera Theophany; he sang in The Apocalypse at Restor’d, singing the role of Aeneas at the the 1994 Proms; and in 2003 he sang in Bruges Early Music Festival. The Veil of The Temple. He has appeared

9 in operas with English and Welsh National Rover's Return. Recently he was honoured Opera, and at the Royal Festival Hall. to be invited to take part in a Gala tribute Jeremy Birchall also works in jazz and to Sir John Betjeman at the Prince of light music: he currently works with the Wales Theatre in London, to read one of crossover group The Shout, and for many Betjeman's poems. years he has directed and sung basso profundo in the a cappella harmony group russell dawson The Demon Barbers. studied the violin with Yossi üivoni at Charles the Royal Northern hetherington stud- College of Music ied singing at the where he gained dis- Royal College of tinction in both Music with Hervey Teaching and Alan and Mark Performing diplomas. Raphael, and later He was subsequently with Elizabeth Hawes a member of the first of Trinity College of violin sections of Music. Since 1979 he orchestras in has lived near Liverpool and London before moving to Shaftesbury in Dorset Dorset where he now teaches and is and has become active in local music making. widely known as a soloist in works rang- ing from the Bach Passions and Lucy-anne allen Mendelssohn’s Elijah to Vaughan Williams’ studied the violin Sea Symphony and Tippett’s A Child of with Dr Robert our Time. He has given a number of Jacoby at St.Antony’s recitals with an emphasis on Lieder and Leweston, Sherborne late nineteenth and twentieth century and later with Katie English Song, and he conducts his own Hull at the Royal local choir, the Yew Tree Singers. Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. On Peter Baldwin is leaving music college, best remembered for she returned to his portrayal of Derek Dorset where she has Wilton in Granada built up her career photo: David Foreman Television's performing to audi- Coronation Street. ences across the south of England with Since leaving the pro- ensembles including the Concert gramme 8 years ago Orchestra of London, Bath Philharmonia, he has played in pan- Dartington Festival Orchestra and Bath tomime, two musi- Opera. Lucy-Anne has also proved her cals, toured the coun- versatility as a musician playing for BBC try in a new farce Radio 2 ‘Live in Newcastle’ and the Paul "Dinner With George" Jones Show, the Syd Lawrence Orchestra and played in a new play "Song of the and has recorded improvisations for both Western Men" at the Chichester Festival audio books and talented young rock Theatre. Recent TV productions include bands. Lucy-Anne also teaches the violin Doctors, Courtroom, the children's series in two local independent schools and from "Out of Sight" and a number of guest her home on the Somerset/Dorset border. appearances on Channel 4's Countdown. He was trained at the Bristol Old Vic aidan fisher was Theatre School and spent early years in born near Bath in classical theatre at Bristol and at the 1959. He studied London Old Vic before moving into light composition and viola comedy - he was in a takeover cast of at the Royal College Beyond The Fringe - and other theatre of Music and was work including a fine production of then appointed com- Rattigan's The Browning Version with poser-in-residence at Nigel Stock and Barbara Jefford. Later he Charterhouse School. played Arthur Birling in Priestley's An After 1985 he lived Inspector Calls with Tom Baker. Television and worked in and Radio Drama occupied a number of London as freelance years before he joined the regulars at The

10 player and teacher until moving to Dorset kept busy playing for many and varied in 1993. He plays in many orchestras and musical engagements and societies is a regular extra in the Bournemouth throughout the year. Valdon has lived and Symphony Orchestra. worked in Dorset for most of his life and is very pleased to be part of this project. david norton obtained a degree in mark whitlam sociology and psy- Hailing from chology before study- Nottinghamshire, ing the ‘cello with Mark studied orches- William Pleeth at the tral percussion with Guildhall School of players from the Music and Drama Bournemouth after hearing Symphony Orchestra Jacqueline du Pre and Royal play. On leaving the Philharmonic Guildhall he played Orchestra. Moving to with Sadler’s Wells Bath in 1996, Mark Opera who later became English National found himself in Opera. In the 1970’s he spent a number demand as a drummer on the jazz schene of years in Wales teaching in Special in the Southwest both as a freelance play- Schools. He has just retired as Artistic er and as a drummer of choice for outfits Director from Dorset Music Service where such as the Nick Malcolm Quintet. In the he has given concerts for and with chil- classical genre Mark has held the post of dren for the last 27 years. He is now Timpanist for the Nottingham Symphony enjoying playing cello as a freelance play- Orchestra and worked with soloists includ- er again and working on a singing project ing Natalie Clein and Wayne Marshall. He with the British Federation of Youth has also spent two seasons in London’s Choirs. He took up the musical saw in West End working in musical theatre 1978 and showed such a degree of skill shows and has been employed as Musical on this instrument that he made his Director by several theatre companies in Queen Elizabeth Hall debut later in the the Southwest area on productions rang- year, appeared on ITV and broadcast for ing from Chess to West Side Story. the BBC and received the following Eager to learn from master drummers he favourable notices from The Stage and has had individual masterclasses from Television Review: ‘David Norton is profi- Pete Riley, jazz giant Jeff Hamilton and cient and hilarious on the musical saw.’ the legendary Jim Chapin, whilst regularly taking lessons from Ralph Salmins. Valdon mizen stud- Although Mark has a busy performance ied the double bass schedule he is also a passionate teacher, and piano at the having gained the CT ABRSM teaching Royal Academy of qualification in 2004. He is currently Music, winning the enjoying roles as a peripatetic teacher in Eugene Cruft double the Bath area and visiting tutor of percus- bass prize three sion and drum kit at Bryanston School in times, and prizes for Dorset. his Chamber and Orchestral playing. Sarah Stretton As a freelance musi- graduated in Drama cian Valdon played and Media Studies. many times with the She has been work- Bournemouth Symphony and Sinfonietta ing with Joe Gladwin Orchestras and for West End shows. He for the past three played in the RTE National Symphony years on a variety of Orchestra of Ireland for three years and productions, including has also played with the Liverpool Joe’s marionette Philharmonic, Birmingham and National show of ‘Sleeping Symphony Orchestras. He has played at Beauty’. the Proms, been on Orchestral Tours to Europe, America and the Far East and played on award winning recordings, and also enjoys playing Jazz. Valdon now teaches full time in North Dorset, but is

11 Thomas haynes Bayly The miSTLeToe Bough

The mistletoe hung in the castle hall The holly branch shone on the old oak wall And the Baron’s retainers were blythe and gay Keeping their Christmas holiday The Baron beheld with a father’s pride His beautiful child, young Lovell’s bride While she with her bright eyes seem’d to be The star of goodly company. "I’m weary of dancing now" she cried, “Here, tarry a moment, I’ll hide, I’ll hide, And Lovell, be sure thou art first to trace The clue to my secret lurking place.” Away she ran and her friends began Each tower to search and each nook to scan And young Lovell cried: "Oh where dost thou hide? I’m lonely without thee, my own dear bride.” They sought her at night! And they sought her next day And they sought her in vain when a week passed away In the highest, the lowest, the loneliest spot Young Lovell sought wildly, but found her not. And the years flew by and their grief at last Was told as a sorrowful tale long past, And when Lovell appeared the children cried: "See the old man weeps for his fairy bride." At length, an oak chest that had long lain hid Was found in the castle, they raised the lid And a skeletal form lay mouldering there In the bridal wreath of that lady fair! O sad was her fate! In sportive jest, She hid from her Lord, in the old oak chest. It closed with a spring, and dreadful doom The bride lay clasped in her living tomb!

Colonel John hay The enChanTed ShirT

Fytte ye first: wherein it shall be shown how ye Truthe is too mightie a Drugge for such as be of Feeble Temper. The king was sick. His cheek was red, And his eye was clear and bright; He ate and drank with a kingly zest, *Fytte And peacefully snored at night. old fashioned word meaning ‘part’ 12 But he said he was sick, and a king should know, And doctors came by the score. They did not cure him. He cut off their heads, And sent to the schools for more. At last two famous doctors came, And one was as poor as a rat, He had passed his life in studious toil, And never found time to grow fat. The other had never looked into a book; His patients gave him no trouble: If they recovered, they paid him well; If they died, their heirs paid double. Together they looked at the royal tongue, As the king on his couch reclined; In succession they thumped his august chest, But no trace of disease could find. The old sage said, “You're sound as a nut" "Hang him up!" roared the king in a gale- In a ten-knot gale of royal rage; The other leech grew a shade pale; But he pensively rubbed his sagacious nose, And thus his prescription ran; The king will be well, if he sleeps at night In the Shirt of a Happy Man. Fytte ye second: telleth of ye searche for ye Shirte, and how it was nighe founde, but was notte for reasons qu: which are sayd or sung.

Wide o'er the realm the courtiers rode, And fast their horses ran, And many they saw, and to many they spoke, But they found no Happy Man. They found poor men who would fain be rich, And rich who thought they were poor; And men who twisted their waists in stays, And women that short hose wore. They saw two men by the roadside sit, And both bemoaned their lot; For one had buried his wife, he said And the other one had not. At last they came to a village gate, A begger lay whistling there! He whistled, and sang, and laughed, and rolled On the grass in the soft June air. The weary courtiers paused and looked At the scamp so blithe and gay; And one of them said, "Heaven save you, friend! You seem to be happy to-day"

13 "Oh yes, fair sirs" the rascal laughed, And his voice rang free and glad; An idle man has so much to do That he never has time to be sad." "This is our man" the courtier said; "Our luck has led us aright. I will give you a hundred ducats, friend, For the loan of your shirt to-night." The merry blackguard lay back on the grass, And laughed till his face was black: "I would do it, Got wot" and he roared with the fun, But I haven't a shirt to my back." Fytte Ye Thirde: shewing how Hys Majestie the King came at last to sleepe in a Happie Man his Shirte. Each day to the king the reports came in Of his unsuccessful spies, And the sad panorama of human woes Passed daily under his eyes. And he grew ashamed of his useless life, And his maladies hatched in gloom; He opened his windows and let in the air Of the free heaven into his room. And out he went in the world, and toiled In his own appointed way; And the people blessed him, the land was glad And the king was well and gay.

robert Southey BiShoP haTTo and The raTS

The summer and autumn had been so wet That in winter the corn was growing yet, ‘Twas a piteous sight to see all around The corn lie rotting on the ground. Every day the starving poor, They crowded around Bishop Hatto’s door For he had a plentiful last year’s store And all the neighbourhood could tell His granaries were furnished well. At last Bishop Hatto appointed a day To quiet the poor without delay, He bade them to his great barn repair And they should have food for the winter there.

14 Rejoiced the tidings good to hear The poor folks flocked from far and near, The great barn was full as it could hold Of women and children, and young and old. When he saw it could hold no more Bishop Hatto he made fast the door And whilst for mercy on Christ they call He set fire to the barn and burnt them all. I’ faith, ‘tis an excellent bonfire! quoth he And the country is greatly obliged to me For ridding it these times forlorn Of rats that only consume the corn. So then to his palace returned he, And he sate down to supper merrily And he slept that night like an innocent man But Bishop Hatto never slept again. In the morning as he entered the hall Where his picture hung against the wall A sweat like death all over him came The rats had eaten it out of the frame. As he look’d, there came a man from his farm He had a countenance white with alarm. "My Lord, I opened your granaries this morn, And the rats had eaten all your corn!" Another came running presently And he was as pale as pale could be. "Fly, my Lord Bishop, fly!" quoth he "Ten thousand rats are coming this way The Lord forgive you for yesterday!" "I’ll go to my tower on the Rhine," replied he ‘Tis the safest place in Germany, The walls are high and the shores are steep And the stream is strong, and the water is deep. Bishop Hatto fearfully hastened away And he crossed the Rhine without delay, And reached his tower and barr’d with care All the windows, doors and loop-holes there. He laid him down and closed his eyes, But soon a scream made him arise. He started, and saw two eyes aflame On his pillow, from whence the screaming came. He listen’d and looked;- twas only the cat But the Bishop he grew more fearful for that. For she sat screaming, mad with fear At the army of rats that were drawing near.

15 For they have swum the river so deep And they have climbed the shores so steep, And up the tower their way is bent To do the work for which they were sent They are not to be told by the dozen or score By thousands they come, and by myriads more. Such numbers had never been heard of before, Such a judgement had never been witnessed of yore. Down on his knees the Bishop fell, And faster and faster his beads did he tell As louder and louder drawing near The saw of their teeth without he could hear. And in at the windows and in at the door And through the walls by the thousands they pour And down from the ceiling and up through the floor From the right and the left, from behind and before From within and without, from above and below, And all at once to the Bishop they go. They have whetted their teeth against the stones And now they pick the Bishop’s bones, They gnawed the flesh from every limb, For they were sent to do judgement on him.

Thomas hardy a TramPwoman’S Tragedy

From Wynyard’s Gap the livelong day, The livelong day, We beat afoot the northward way, We had travelled times before The sunblaze burning on our backs Our shoulders sticking to our packs By Fosseway, fields, and turnpike tracks We skirted sad Sedgmoor. Full twenty miles we jaunted on, We jaunted on, My fancy man, and jeering John And Mother Lee and I And as the sun drew down to West We climbed the toilsome Polden crest And saw of landskip sights the best, The Inn that beamed thereby. For months, we padded side by side, Ay, side by side, Through the great forest, Blackmoor wide, And where the Parret ran, We’d faced the gusts on Mendip Ridge

16 We’d crossed the Yeo unhelped by bridge, been stung by every Marshwood midge, I and my fancy man. Lone inns we loved, my man and I My man and I King’s Stag, ‘Windwhistle’ high and dry, ‘The Horse’ on Hintock Green. The cosy house at Wynyard’s Gap, ‘The Hut’ renowned on Bredy Knap And many another wayside tap Where folk might sit unseen. Now as we trudged, oh deadly day Oh deadly day I teased my fancy man in play And wanton idleness. I walked alongside jeering John I laid my hand his waist upon I would not bend my glances on My lover’s dark distress. Thus Polden top at last we won, At last we won And gained the inn at sink of sun Far-famed as Marshall’s Elm. Beneath us figured Tor and Lea From Mendip to the Western Sea. I doubt if any finer sight there be Within this Royal Realm. Inside the settle, all a row All four a row, We sat, I next to John, To show that he had wooed and won. And then he took me on his knee And swore it was his turn to be My favoured mate, and Mother Lee Turned to my former one. Then in a voice I had never heard, I had never heard, My only love to me: "One word, my lady, If you please. Whose is the child you are like to bear? Mine, or his?” God knows, ‘twas not, but oh despair I nodded, still to tease.

Then he sprang up and with his knife He let out jeering Johnny’s life. Yes there, at set of sun The slant ray through the window nigh Gilded John’s blood and glazing eye ‘ere scarcely Mother Lee and I knew that the deed was done.

17 The taverns tell the gloomy tale The gloomy tale How that at Ivel Chester jail, my love, my sweetheart swung. Though stained til now by no misdeed Save one horse ta’en in time of need (Blue Jimmy stole right many a steed ‘ere his last fling was flung.) There aft, I walked the world alone, Alone, alone On his death day I gave my grown And dropped his dead born child. ‘Twas nigh the jail, beneath a tree, None tending me, for Mother Lee Had died at Glaston leaving me Unfriended on the wild. And in the night as I lay weak As I lay weak The leaves a-falling on my cheek The red moon, low declined, The ghost of him I’d die to kiss Rose up, and said: "Ah, tell me this: Was the child mine, Or was it his? Speak, that I rest may find.” Oh doubt not, but I told him then I told him then That I had kept me from all men Since we joined lips and swore. Whereat he smiled and thinned away As the wind stirred to call up day, ‘Tis past, and here alone I stray, Haunting the Western Moor.

mary howitt The SPider and The fLy

"Will you walk into my parlour?" Said the spider to the fly; "Tis the prettiest little parlour That ever you did spy. The way into my parlour Is up a winding stair: And I have many curious things To show you when you're there." "Oh no no" said the little fly; "To ask me is in vain; For who goes up your winding stair Can ne'er come down again."

18 “I'm sure you must be weary, dear With soaring up so high Will you rest upon my little bed?” Said the spider to the fly. "There are pretty curtains all around, The sheets are fine and thin And if you want to rest a while I'll snugly tuck you in!" "Oh no no" said the little fly; For I've often heard it said They never, never wake again Who sleep upon your bed!" Said the cunning spider to the fly- “Dear friend, what can I do To prove the warm affection I've always felt for you? I have within my pantry Good store of all that's nice; I'm sure you're very welcome- Will you please to take a slice?” "Oh no no" said the little fly; “Kind sir, that cannot be I've heard what's in your pantry And I do not wish to see!” “Sweet Creature!” said the spider “You're witty and you're wise How handsome are your gauzy wings How brilliant are your eyes! I have a little looking-glass Upon my parlour shelf; If you 'll step in one moment dear You shall behold yourself.” "I thank you, gentle sir”, she said "For what you're pleased to say, And, bidding you good-morning now, I'll call another day!” The Spider turned him round about and went into his den For well he know the silly fly would soon come back again: So he wove a subtle web in a little corner sly, And set his table ready to dine upon the fly. Then came out to his door again and merrily did sing "Come hither, hither pretty fly, with pearl and silver wing Your robes are green and purple, there’s a crest upon your head Your eyes are like diamond bright, but mine are dull as lead" Alas, alas! How very soon this silly little fly Hearing his wily, flattering words, Came slowly flitting by! With buzzing wings she hung aloft Then near and nearer drew Thinking only of her brilliant eyes And green and purple hue.

19 Thinking only of her crested head Poor foolish thing! At last Up jumped the cunning spider And fiercely held her fast. He dragged her up his winding stair Into his dismal den: Within his little parlour,- But she ne'er came out again! And now, dear little children Who may this story read To idle, silly, flattering words I pray you ne'er give heed; Unto an evil counsellor Close heart and ear and eye And take a lesson from this tale Of the Spider and the Fly.

Josephine Pollard PriCe of a drinK

"Five cents a glass!" Does anyone think That this is really the price of a drink? "Five cents a glass," I hear you say, "Why that isn't very much to pay." Ah, no, indeed; 'tis a very small sum You are passing over with finger and thumb And if that were all that you gave away It wouldn't be very much to pay.

The price of a drink! Let him decide Who has lost his courage and lost his pride, And lies a groveling heap of clay Not far removed from a beast today. The price of a drink! Let that one tell Who sleeps tonight in a murderer's cell, And feels within him the fires of hell. Honour and virtue, love and truth All the glory and pride of youth, Hopes of manhood, the wreath of fame, High endeavour and noble aim, These are treasures thrown away, As the price of a drink, from day to day. "Five cents a glass!" How Satan laughed As over the bar the young man quaffed The beaded liquor, for the demon knew The terrible work that drink would do; And before morning the victim lay With his life-blood ebbing swiftly away. And that was the price he paid, alas! For the pleasure of taking a social glass.

20 alfred noyes The highwayman

The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees, The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas. The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor, And the highwayman came riding-riding-riding- The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door. He’d a French cocked-hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin, A coat of the claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin. They fitted with never a wrinkle. His boots were up to the thigh. And he rode with a jewelled twinkle, His pistol butts a-twinkle, His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jewelled sky. Over the cobbles he clatterred and clashed in the dark inn-yard. He tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred. He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there But the landlord’s black-eyed daughter, Bess, the landlord’s daughter, Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair. And dark in the old inn-yard a stable-wicket creaked Where Tim the ostler listened. His face was white and peaked. His eyes were hollows of madness, his hair like mouldy hay, But he loved the landlord’s daughter, The landlord’s red-lipped daughter. Dumb as a dog he listened, and he heard the robber say- ‘One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I’m after a prize tonight, But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light; Yet, if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day, Then look for me by moonlight, Watch for me by moonlight, I’ll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way.’ He rose upright in the stirrups. He scarce could reach her hand, But she loosened her hair i’ the casement. His face burnt like a brand As the black cascade of perfume came tumbling over his breast; And he kissed its waves in the moonlight, (Oh, sweet black waves in the moonlight!) Then he tugged at his rein in the moonlight, and galloped away to the west. He did not come in the dawning. He did not come at noon; And out o’ the tawny sunset, before the rise o’ the moon, When the road was a gipsy’s ribbon, looping the purple moor, A red-coat troop came marching-marching-marching- King George’s men came marching, up to the old inn door. They said no word to the landlord. They drank his ale instead. But they gagged his daughter, and bound her, to the foot of her narrow bed. Two of them knelt at her casement, with muskets at their side! There was death at every window; And hell at one dark window; For Bess could see, through her casement, the road that he would ride.

21 They had tied her up to attention, with many a sniggering jest. They had bound a musket beside her, with the muzzle beneath her breast! ‘Now keep good watch’! and they kissed her. She heard the dead man say- Look for me by moonlight, Watch for me by moonlight, I’ll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way! She twisted her hands behind her; but all the knots held good! She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood! They stretched and strained in the darkness, the hours crawled by like years, Till, now, on the stroke of midnight, Cold, on the stroke of midnight, The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers! The tip of one finger touched it. She strove no more for the rest. Up, she stood up to attention, with the muzzle beneath her breast. She would not risk their hearing; she would not strive again; For the road lay bare in the moonlight; Blank and bare in the moonlight; And the blood of her veins, in the moonlight, throbbed to her love’s refrain. Tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot! Had they heard it? The horse-hoofs ringing clear; Tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot, in the distance! Were they deaf that they did not hear? Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill, The highwayman came riding, riding, riding! The red-coats looked to their priming! She stood up, straight and still. Tlot-tlot, in the frosty silence! Tlot-tlot, in the echoing night! Nearer he came and nearer. Her face was like a light. her eyes grew wide for a moment; she drew one last deep breath, Then her finger moved in the moonlight, Her musket shattered the moonlight’ Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him- with her death. He turned. He spurred to the west; he did not know who stood Bowed, with her head o’er the musket, drenched with her own red blood! Not till the dawn he heard it, and his face grew grey to hear How Bess, the landlord’s daughter, The landlord’s black-eyed daughter, had watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the darkness there. Back, he spurred like a madman, shouting a curse to the sky, With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high Blood-red were his spurs i’ the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat; When they shot him down on the highway, Down like a dog on the highway, And he lay in his blood on the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat. And still of a winter’s night, they say, when the wind is in the trees, When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas, When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor, A highwayman comes riding-riding-riding- A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door. Over the cobbles he clatters and clangs in the dark inn-yard. And he taps with his whip on the shutters, but all is locked and barred. He whistles a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there But the landlord’s black-eyed daughter, Bess, the landlord’s daughter, Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.

22 acknowledgements

Counterparts Music Theatre Arts is a Hattie Hambro registered charity (charity no. Steam Heat 1109259), which was set up to make, Bewildered (Vicky and Mike) perform and show music, theatre and Richard Lonnon and band arts events of a high standard in the Neil’s Yard South West region. ‘The Highwayman Plant World & other Songs from the Shadows’ is Lavender Blue its first major production. This project Royal Jaipur restaurant would not have been possible without Steve Proctor the heartwarming support of: The National Trust Nick Forrest Directors of Counterparts MTA: Ian Sandbrook Maggie Durkee, Faye Nicholls, David Pengelly Philippa Forrest, Helen Pengelly, Far Horizons Travel Rebecca Speight The idea works Nick Hoare Funders: David Pengelly Arts Council England South West Mary Fielder Foundation for Sport and the Arts Gillian Anderson Awards for All Edward and Susie Hoare North Dorset District Council Lynne Vipond Dorset County Council Mr H Hoare Cameron Macintosh Foundation Peter Baldwin Thelma Daggett And: Steve Johnson Angela Willes John Barton Catherine Sandbrook Francesca de Monterey Heather Mitchell Mere Drama Society Dr Wyndham Thomas Glenda Pyke (Wheels for the World) Moragh Brooksbank St James Church Graham Puxley Bryanston School Sarah Bolshaw Port Regis School Clive Richards Liz Sutherland Fiona Boyle Fanny Charles Common Ground Gay Pirie-Weir Waitrose Gill Kaye Turnbulls Veronica Lee The Salt Cellar Chris Stanbury The Dorset Store Angela King Salisbury Florists Amanda Smith SCAT’s Country store Golden Acres Garden Centre Dingham’s, Salisbury Simon Barber Else Family Butchers Salisbury Arts Centre ArtCare Misbehavin’ (Karen Wimhurst, Robin Walter, Pete Brandt, Helen Porter) Philippa Fraser B Natural (Lizzie & Nigel Broderick- Barker) Divazz (Liz, Angie and Vanesssa)

23 nigel Carver (1947-2006)

‘Songs from the Shadows’ are dedi- cated to the mem- ory of the musician Nigel Carver. His unexpected death in June this year was a terrible blow for many, many people. I lost a mentor who had been such a force of expertise, encouragement and enthusiasm, and lost the conductor for ‘The Highwayman’ – someone who had shared the journey of the creation and production of this work over the last year. Together we held the auditions and selected the singers, and poured over scores. Nigel even arranged PART I ‘The Enchanted Shirt’ (just for fun!). He wouldn’t have known that this was to be one of his last arrangements, and I am pleased, especially for his fami- ly, that it will be played tonight. Despite the sad loss of Nigel to this project, I am incredibly fortunate that Paul Searle-Barnes, Nigel’s friend and colleague, was so willing to take up the reins, and has done so with such commitment and enthusiasm. I am sure that Nigel would have been very proud of what we have managed to bring about here in Dorset. Helen Porter

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